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Other opinions
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Liberty - Salgueiro Maia
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Once upon a time I had a friend who was a captain. One day,that captain led his soldiers from Santarém to Lisbon, and became the national hero of April 25 revolution.
I was in the war, in Angola, and only could embrace Salgueiro Maia, several months later, a few years before his premature death. The statue in front of the abandoned military quarters represents what our history called "Infante Santo". a nobble who died prisoner in Fes, after our defeat in Ksar-el Kibir, but my memories go to the lost friend. There's a statue of my friend Maia in Santarém, but not in the place where I think that it should be - here. |
João Moreira Street
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I had the pleasure to be invited to Santarém to celebrate a friend of the world, and by coincidence... mine too. João Moreira, a professional bachelor now over 92, is at ease everywhere: with a tiny budget (one third of my small one) he went with me across Spain, France, Belgium, England in my first big trip, for a month. It's a small world, for him, hardly accommodating his heart. I |
n my last birthday (he always phones me, failing just once in the last 30 years, because he couldn't do it from... Macau), he was arriving from Florida - almost blind... tight in diets, hardly walking, with a monthly pension hardly covering each month's needs in Portugal.
But... friends! He has them everywhere. I will not resist to repeat the words of Harry, a dutch writer in love with Santarém, about João Moreira, in a bad Portuguese: "João Moreira very good person - he is always available to offer my bed to his friends"
That's it. If you need a friend in Santarém... there's João Moreira.
No one gets bored beside him! I keep visiting Santarém often now, thanks to... dance. João Moreira street is out of my beaten path, but João isn't.
João Moreira gave up and died in December 7 , 2017, at the age of 95. The world is poorer...
But... friends! He has them everywhere. I will not resist to repeat the words of Harry, a dutch writer in love with Santarém, about João Moreira, in a bad Portuguese: "João Moreira very good person - he is always available to offer my bed to his friends"
That's it. If you need a friend in Santarém... there's João Moreira.
No one gets bored beside him! I keep visiting Santarém often now, thanks to... dance. João Moreira street is out of my beaten path, but João isn't.
João Moreira gave up and died in December 7 , 2017, at the age of 95. The world is poorer...
Folk Dance
Folk Dance in Santarém annual fair was a must. A good starting point to discover the unknown world (we were under a dictatorship) and the real Portugal. Now the fair despised the folk festival, and I "forgot" the fair.